The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in
the just concluded February 23 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, and his party, Tuesday formally kick-started their petition
challenging the conduct and outcome of the election which produced
President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for a
second term of four years.
Atiku in an ex-parte motion filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja,
asked for various orders of the court to allow him access all document
used by the IndependentNational Electoral Commission (INEC) for the
conduct of the poll.
The ex-parte application filed by a legal luminary, Chief Chris Uche
SAN, has INEC, President Muhamadu Buhari and the All Progressives
Congress (APC) as respondents.
The ex-parte motion is praying for an order compelling INEC to allow
them Inspect the register and other vital documents used in the
conduct of the election unhindered.
In the ex-parte motion dated March 4 and filed March 5, Atiku and the
PDP applied that the Appellate Court serving as the Presidential
Election Petition Tribunal to compel the electoral body to allow their
agents to scan and make photocopies of vital documents used in the
last presidential election for the purpose of maintaining their
petition against the election.
Specifically, the ex-parte motion indicated that the order requested
against INEC is for the purpose of filing and maintaining election
petition before the tribunal.
The ex-parte motion is supported with a 12 paragraph affidavit deposed
to by one Colonel Austin Akobundu (Rtd.), a Director of Contact and
Mobilization in the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council.
Meanwhile, no date has yet been fixed for hearing of the motion.
Atiku and PDP who scored over 11m votes to come second in the February
23 presidential election as against the over 15m votes declared by
INEC for Buhari and APC have indicated their desire to challenge the
conduct and outcome of the election at the tribunal on the grounds
that the poll was heavily manipulated and rigged for the declared
winners.
Specifically, the grouse of Atiku and PDP was that the results
collated by them from polling units across the country were quite
different from those recorded for the declared winners by INEC.
Meanwhile, the President Muhammadu Buhari campaign council has said
that it is not opposed to the decision of the PDP candidate in the
last presidential poll Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from seeking redress in
the law court.
A Press statement by the spokesperson for the council Mr. Festus
Keyamo SAN read in part; “Our attention has been drawn to some news
item and posts on social media reporting that we wrote a letter to
some international bodies to prevail on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar not to
proceed to court to challenge the result of the 2019 Presidential
Election.
